Centrifugal slurry pumps, which may typically comprise hard metal or elastomer liners and/or casings that resist wear, are widely used in the mining industry. Normally, the higher the slurry density, or the larger or harder the slurry particles, will result in higher wear rates and reduced pump life.
Centrifugal slurry pumps are widely used in minerals processing plants from the start of the process where the slurry is very coarse with associated high wear rates (for example, during milling), to the end of the process where the slurry is very much finer and the wear rates greatly reduced (for example, when flotation tailings are produced). As an example, slurry pumps dealing with a coarser particulate feed duty may only have a life of wear parts measured in weeks or months, compared to pumps at the end of the process which have wear parts which can last from one to two years in operation.
The wear in centrifugal slurry pumps that are used for handling coarse particulate slurries typically is worst at the impeller inlet, because the solids have to turn through a right angle (from axial flow in the inlet pipe to radial flow in the pump impeller) and, in so doing, the particle inertia and size results in more impacts and sliding motion against the impeller walls and the leading edge of the impeller vanes.
The impeller wear occurs mainly on the vanes and the front and rear shrouds at the impeller inlet. High wear in these regions can also influence the wear on the front liner of the pump. The small gap that exists between the rotating impeller and the stationary front liner (sometimes referred to as the throatbush) will also have an effect on the life and performance of the pump wear parts. This gap is normally quite small, but typically increases due to wear on the impeller front, impeller shroud or due to wear on both the impeller and the front liner.
One way to reduce the flow that escapes from the high pressure casing region of the pump (through the gap between the front of the impeller and the front liner into the pump inlet) is by incorporating a raised and angled lip on the stationary front liner at the impeller inlet. The impeller has a profile to match this lip. While the flow through the gap can be reduced by the use of expelling vanes on the front of the impeller, the flow through the gap can also effectively minimised by designing and maintaining this narrow gap.
Some, but not all, pumps can have means to maintain the gap between the impeller and the front liner as small as practicable without causing excess wear by rubbing. A small gap normally improves the front liner life but the wear at the impeller inlet still occurs and is not diminished.
The high wear at the impeller entry relates to the degree of turbulence in the flow as it changes from axial to radial direction. The geometry of a poorly designed impeller and pumping vanes can dramatically increase the amount of turbulence and hence wear.
The various aspects disclosed herein may be applicable to all centrifugal slurry pumps and particularly to those that experience high wear rates at the impeller inlet or to those that are used in applications with high slurry temperatures.